Sunday, 22 November 2015

Cadaver

This is a review of a promotional copy kindly sent to us by Triple Ace
Games.

Diolch yn fawr.

Mike: In Cadaver
you are playing as a necromancer attempting to reanimate a series of cadavers. You
do this by using arcane resources with the help of the diabolical accomplices.

The game supports 2-3 players but this can be increased to 6
with an additional deck.

At the start of the game you will remove 2 of each resource
card from the deck and place them in the centre of the table. The deck is then
shuffled and each player is given 5 cards.

The player who is closest to death starts first. That has to
be one of the darker ways to decide first player I have seen. I do love these
creative ways on deciding a first player.

On your turn you have three phases laying, drawing and
trading. You can lay up to two cards from your hand or discard. The cards you
can lay are Corpses, resources, accomplices, ghouls, coffin lids and coffin
keys.

Corpses are what you need to win and how you score points.
When you lay a corpse on the table it will have three resource symbols on it. You
need to also lay resources on the corpse to score it. So it is impossible to play
and score a corpse on the same turn.

Resources – there are brains, potions and scrolls. These
resources are needed to raise the corpses.

Accomplices – During the drawing phase you can draw a
resource from the resource pile instead of drawing from the deck. You can draw
a resource that matches the one the accomplice is holding.

Ghouls are nasty. When you lay a Ghoul you can take an
accomplice or a corpse from your opponent and place it in front of you. These
cards can quickly change the direction of a game and really spice things up.

Coffin lids are used to block opponents. For example you can
see your opponent needing potions to score his corpse. You can block it by
placing a coffin lid on the potion resource pile. The only way this can now be
used is if it is unlocked by using a coffin key.

David: Also there
is only two of each accomplice so this means in a three player game you might
not be able to get the accomplice you need. The coffin lids can also be nasty as
you can really cause some problems. Sometimes you lock a resource and then need
it yourself a bit later on.

The Ghoul cards are great to play if your opponent has 2
resources on a corpse. You can steal it and score it in one turn if you have
the last resource required. This can be a great way of getting a few sneaky
points.

Mike: It’s so
frustrating when that happens. Good point about the accomplices. We noticed
there were only 2 accomplices when we played a 3 player game. We decided to
make the same rule in a 2 player game and removed 1 of each of the accomplices
to make it a bit harder. This increased the difficulty and made you think about
how you use the Ghoul cards.

So back to the turn phases. Once you have finished laying
cards you draw back up to five cards from the deck or resource pile if you have
the right accomplice.

At the end of the drawing phase is the trading phase. You
can trade with another player as long as they agree. This doesn’t happen much
if at all in 2 player games but can be crucial phase of the game with more
players where resources may be a bit scarcer.

Play continues with each player taking a turn until the final
card is drawn from the deck. Players then have one turn each remaining. After
this players organise there corpses into sets for scoring.

David: You can
only use a card once in each set.

A set of three different corpses is worth 7 points.

A set of three of the same is worth 5.

The abomination corpse is worth 3 and a single corpse is
worth 1.

It is very simple to score and makes it easier to teach
others how to play. I would feel comfortable teaching my friends this in
school.

Mike: Another
great little filler game from Triple Ace Games. Their games are light and as
David has already mentioned easy to teach. They have quickly become our go to
games to take out and about.

It easy to see why. Cadaver is simply a pack of cards, no counters or
board. This makes it a great choice to take out for example to play whilst
waiting at a restaurant.

I mentioned the same with Halfling feast but I believe the
suggested age higher than what I would suggest. I know there is a theme of necromancy
and corpses here but if your child is into books and films like Harry Potter
they will love this. I would suggest 8/9+.

David: The
artwork is not gory or scary so is fine for younger players. I really like the
art style and its nice not having any text on the cards so you can see the full
picture. Not having the text on the cards makes it easier for younger players to pick up and play.

Mike: We had great fun playing this its another hit in our house.We wish Triple Ace
Games all the best on their
Kickstarter campaign with another great family game.